Improvement in looms



4 Sheets-Sheet I. J. EARNSHAW.

Loom. No. 66,574. Patented July 9, 1867.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. EARNSHAW.

Loom.

Patented July 9', 1867.

4 f'Sheet 4. EARNSHAW I Loom. Q No. 66,574- Patented July '9, 11867.

esses Z7771 11 WK germ grates jfgttitlt-t @ffi JOHN EARNS HAW, OF EASTGREENWICH, RHODE ISLAND.

Letters Patent No. 66,574, dated July 9, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOOMS.

TQ ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I,J011NEARSSIIAW, of East Greenwich, in the county ofKent,and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new Improvement inPower-Looms; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to he a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-- Figure], :1. front view.

Figure 2, a top view.

Figure 3, a left-hand end view.

Figures 4 and 5, the needle or warp-carrierg and in Figure 6, aright-hand endview.

This invention relates to an improvement in the loom, for which I filedan application for Letters Patent in 1855, and consists, first, in thearrangement of a vertical shuttle, in combination with the weft orfillingcarriers; also in the construction of the filling-carriers, andthe manner of operating the same.

In order to the better understanding of my invention, as 'Wellas toenable others to construct the same, I will proceed to a descriptionthereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

A is the frame of the loom, similar in its form and construction toordinary looms; B is the lay, which is arranged and operated in similarmanner as other looms, and is made of suificient weight to beat up thefilling, though itneed not be made so deep, as no shuttle-race isrequired; 0 Dare the needles or rods which carry the filling-thread inplace of the common shuttle; they may be one or more in number,according to the nature of the fabric to be woven, and are made tubular,as seen in fig. 5, terminating in a point formed so as to pass freelythrough the warps, 'which warps are introduced into the loom in theusual manner for looms of-common construction. Near the point of theneedle the body is reduced, as at E, figs. 4 and 5, forthe purpose morefully hereafter shown, and the needle or needles are fitted orsecured-to a stop, F, which works in a horizontal race, G, (a separaterace for each needle,) placed at nearly right angles'to the warps, andare caused to run through the warps, as denoted in red, fig. 2, andreturn by a crank, H, operating the lever I through its connectiqn, J K,which said lever I is attached to a needle-operator, L, and driven toand fro upon a bar or guide, M, said needle-operator being formed withdownward projecting studs a, which, as the needle-operator traverses toand fro upon its own bar, M, drives one of the needles through the warpsand returns it. Any other suitable mechanism may be introduced tooperate the needles; for instance, the needles may be placed one abovethe other in a vertical plane, be guided in a suitable frame or racewith the projecting pieces F, extending from the side, to he caught andmoved by a carriage. These needles maybe raised and lowered either inregular order or any number of needles may be skipped by means of anywell-known devices for operating drop-shuttle boxes,

or the needles may be arranged in circular revolving boxes, and operatedin any desired order in the usual method of operating circularshuttle-boxes. The race G is formed in a plate hung upon a carriage, N,pivoted to the frame at d, and is moved to present first one needle andthen another, each at its proper time, to be driven through the warpsand returned. In this instance the carriage N is actuated by a camacting upon a lever, B, projecting from the side of the carriage, or bya suitable arrangement of cams as are used in operating dropshuttleboxes, different-shaped cams being required according to the number ofneedles used or the pattern desired to be woven. The filling-threads arearranged upon bobbins S or spools at any convenient point, so that thethread may be taken therefrom and passed through suitable tensiondevicesto the hollow needles. In this instance I have shown a tension device,"7', which consists of a plate having a number of holes through it, andthe tension is made greater or less according to the nunibcr of holesthrough which the thread is passed. Any of the well-known modes ofproducing tension on the threads of sewing machines may be employed. Thethread, instead of passing from the tension device directly to theneedle, maybe passed through an eye, It, on the car= ringe N, nd thenpassed under the pulley Z of thedancing weight and to the needle; thisdancing weight is to take up any excess of slack in the filling-thread,but-any well-known take-up device used in sewing; machines may beemployed instead. This last-mentioned arrengementis shown in red,fig. 1. The end of the threads '20 passed through the needles is securedin the 'warps, and the needle driven through between the warps carryingthe thread across where it is caught by the device hereinafterdescribed, and held while the needle returns; and when ,the needle hasthus passed across andv returned it leaves a double filling-thread,which is beaten up by the lay in the usual manner. The device forinterlacing and holding the filling-thread consists of a shuttle, T,arranged to move up and down in a race, U,'formed upon or attached tothe lay, and so as to move back and forth with it, or the shuttle-racemay be attached rigidly to theframe opposite to the needles. The shuttleis driven.up and down in the said race, as from the position in black tothat denoted in red, fig. 3, by the action of a cam, W, through a lever,X, or by an equivalent arrangement. The attachment to the shuttle may bemade in any convenient manner, so that the shuttle may pass through theloop formed by the filling-thread as the needle returns, and to insuresuch. positive passage through the loop the needle extends through thewarps and passes into a recess, 0, in the shuttle-race, so that therecessed portion E of the needle lies nearly flush with the race,leaving the vthread a little distance from the face of the recess, asdenoted in blue, fig. 5. The

shuttle T is provided with a bobbin, and the tension on the threadgoverned in much the same manner as in sewing machines. The end of theshuttle-thread is drawn from the shuttle and is fixed to the warps sothat when the needle-is run across, as before described, and while uponthe dead-point, or nearly so, and in the recess 0 in I the race, theshuttle T is quickly driven up, passing through the loop, and while theshuttle T is up the needle returns, drawing the loop off the shuttle T,in like manner as does the needle-in sewing machines, and the thread ofthe shuttle T holds the loop, and is drawn by the loop to the edge ofthe warps; this is beaten up by the lay in the usual manner. When theshuttle Treturns, the needle is again passed through, its thread caughtand held in like manner. The first needle continues to pass throughuntil, at the-proper time, the race in which it operates is moved inproper position to presents. second needle to the carrier to be operatedin like manner; thus several needles, carrying each a different warp, ofdifferent color, or of different material, may at the proper time beintroduced and thus form a variety of fabrics.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that this invention isparticularly applicable to the weaving of pile fabrics, inasmuch as thecarrier which operatesthe needle may atthe same time introduce andwithdraw the pile wires, and it will be equally evident that a jacquardmay be attached to the loom as to looms of common construction, and asseen in fig. 3.

By this improvement in the shuttle-race it will be seen that by nopossibility can the doubled filling-threads overlie. each other, butmust always lie in proper position. And by my improvement in the needle,that is, employing a hollow instead of an eye-pointed needle, there isless liability of the filling-thread becoming entangled in the operativemechanism. l

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl 1. The shuttle T,arranged to operate vertically and crossing the head of the needle, soas to intcrlace the shuttle-thread with the filling-thread,substantially as set forth. v

2. The employment of two or more filling-thread carriers in combinationwith a device for catching and retaining the filling-thread at eachmovement of the filling-carriers, substantially as set forth.

3. A tubular needle or thread-carrier, constructed and operatingsubstantially in the manner herein set forth. I

4. The notch c in the shuttle-race, in combination with.a'filling-thread carrier and shuttle, T, as and for the purposesspecified. I

5. The depression E, formed at or near the point of a tubularfilling-thread carrier, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The needle-operator L, arranged to operate the filling-threadcarriers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofl have hereunto signed my name this 13th day ofMarch, 1867, in presence of the two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN EARNSHAW. Witnesses:

A. J. TIBBITS, E. C. THOMPSON.

